Experts testifying Monday to a federal House foreign-affairs committee said Canada should solidify its EU relationship through legal frameworks amid ongoing confusion over the term “associate member.”
The Story
Experts studying European Union relations told the House foreign-affairs committee on Monday that Canada should work to lock in gains with the EU through legal frameworks, while “associate member” talk continues to cause confusion.
The testimony came after a summit in Montreal last week, where Canadian and European officials praised the EU plan as a historic partnership. The academics were less enthusiastic and argued that many agreements remain expressions of intent without clear, concrete commitments.
University of Toronto professor Mark Manger said many of the arrangements are “essentially expressions of intent more than anything,” adding he was “still waiting for a concrete announcement” that goes beyond cooperation and better relations.
Manger also argued that Mexico already has many of the arrangements with the EU that Canada is now gaining or seeking.
The discussion followed weeks of uncertainty over the EU’s terminology, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pitching Canada as an “associate member” of the EU. The experts said the term has no official definition.
Manger and other witnesses pointed to how Prime Minister Mark Carney initially avoided the “associate member” wording, speaking instead of an “alliance for the future,” before switching to the associate membership goal last Thursday.
Achim Hurrelmann, co-director of the Centre for European Studies at Carleton University, said the phrasing was “a bit of a distraction from the policy work” leading up to the summit, saying the EU had not defined what the status would mean or how it would fit into EU law. Hurrelmann added that he believed the leaders were keeping the buzz because it draws attention: “Everyone’s talking about this,” he testified.
Hurrelmann said any arrangement would have to fall somewhere between a political declaration and a formal status, and he noted that formal status would require complex changes to EU treaties as well as votes in Canada’s Parliament.
He also suggested the proposals described to date did not require associate membership to be realized, describing the concept as a “symbolic affirmation” of moving from a common-law relationship to marriage.
An adviser from the European Council on Foreign Relations, Anand Sundar, told the committee that “associate membership” appears to be a political push from Brussels and said it may face objections from member states, including Germany.
As MPs raised concerns about far-right movements in Europe that are skeptical of partnering internationally, Hurrelmann said Canada should move quickly to nail down a deal with the EU. He said on the Canadian side the key issue will be how quickly an agreement can be put fully into legal force on the European side.
Hurrelmann also suggested Ottawa consider restructuring its existing EU trade deal, including changing its status from the current “mixed agreement,” which requires separate ratification by each EU member state.
He noted that of the EU’s 27 members, nine have not yet put the Canadian deal in full force, and he said Canadians have concerns about food regulations that limit many Canadian imports, while Europeans have raised questions about Canada’s dairy quota and protected-origin phrasing.
Hurrelmann said the summit’s joint statement used “very vague language” and urged both sides to look at the governance structure of the Canada-EU deal, saying earlier efforts aligned regulations, assessed conformity and recognized professional qualifications but had limited success.
Manger said Canada and the EU should enhance the existing trade deal with “economic and legal parameters” to make it clearer to Canadian firms that the relationship is long-term, and he suggested the approach could increase trade over a decade.
He also floated the idea of allowing European mobile networks to set up in Canada in exchange for changes such as dropping restrictions on Canadian food imports.
Hurrelmann added that any Canada-EU agreements would require complex negotiations across the provinces and EU member states, and he suggested focusing on areas where the EU has clear jurisdiction, such as research and academic exchanges, while working directly with countries on issues like defence and energy.
The committee discussion also included concerns raised by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who argued the government has not been clear about its European deal and that the Montreal summit was meant to distract from domestic issues.
← More stories